Right rival to Higgins could restore balance

Micheál Martin should make it his business to find a candidate of stature and declare Fianna Fáil’s intention to contest this year’s presidential election — and the sooner the better.

It would be a serious signal of intent and a way to address the near monopoly the government presently holds on setting the political agenda.

Simplistic? It’s true that political commentators often fall into the trap of applying simplistic solutions to political challenges. Remember those in 2011 who insisted Fianna Fáil should run a presidential candidate, despite the party effectively being on life support. Martin was right to ignore such nonsense and focus on the salvage job in hand.

So why is this time different? For a number of reasons. First off, though, there are…